Study on upgrade of Nyamapanda Highway commence

Business ReporterFeasibility study on the upgrade and dualisation of Harare – Nyamapanda Highway has commenced, Infrastructure and Development Bank of Zimbabwe has said.

The highway, also known as A2, is the primary highway connecting Harare and Nyamapanda at the border with Mozambique.

“The feasibility study commenced in January 2018 and is expected to be completed in six to eight months,” said the bank.

Apart from dualisation of the 238 kilometre road, the project will also involve the upgrade of the border facilities at Nayamapanda Border Post, said the IDBZ – the Government’s lead advisor on major infrastructure projects.

The road – one of the highways in Zimbabwe has surpassed both design and economic life.

Construction of the road was completed in 1980 and is part of the regional truck network linking Zimbabwe and the Southern African Development Community and the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa regions through Nacala Corridor in Mozambique.

The rehabilitation and widening of the highway would see the road meeting the Southern Africa Transport and Communication standards. IDBZ said the full cost of the project would be determined after the completion of the feasibility studies.

Some of the highways the Government is looking at rehabilitating include 439 km Bulawayo – Victoria Falls highway. About $1,2 million is needed for the feasibility study.

The road is also part of the Trans-Africa Highway 4, which runs from Cairo, Egypt to Gaborone through Pretoria. It is also part of Zimbabwe’s regional road corridor number R9, which runs from the border with Zambia to the border with South Africa.

Under the project, between 30 and 40 km will be dualised. To shorten travelling distance between Harare and Victoria Falls, the government is looking constructing a 232 km road from Kwekwe to Lupane. The road will cut distance between Harare and Vic Falls by 223 km.

Zimbabwe has intensified upgrading it highways to improve trade and reduce road carnage.

In 2014, Zimbabwe completed the upgrade Plumtree-Mutare highway financed by a $206 million loan facility from the Industrial Development Bank of Southern Africa.

The road from Plumtree covers Bulawayo, Gweru, Kwekwe, Kadoma, Harare and to Mutare.

The project was implemented by Group Five International in partnership with the Zimbabwe National Road Administration. The dualisation of Beitbridge – Harare Highway that is expected to cost close to a $1 billion is set to start before the end of this month and the contractor is in the process of setting up three camps in Masvingo and Beitbridge.

Austrian firm Geiger International was contracted to upgrade the highway that links the country with its largest trading partner South Africa.